A place of retreat for this mother of seven (currently fighting Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer) to speak on the joys and challenges of life for a Catholic family immersed in American culture.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

The Kids Run the Ballpark

Regular readers of this blog know how much I enjoy our local Class A ball team,The Jethawks. I have mentioned before how down-home and community-oriented the games are, yet with big-league quality baseball. Well, the Jethawks have impressed me again!

A few nights ago was "Kids Run the Baseball Park" night so, of course, I signed my kids up. As members of the Jr. Jethawks Club, they got to chose which job they might like to do at the stadium for the evening. When I arrived at the park the four older kids were whisked off to their jobs and I sat down with the two little ones and watched the show (Jay was traveling and unfortunately missed it).

Lindsey was a ticket taker and enthusiastically ripped tickets for nearly two hours. She got to greet everyone entering the stadium but later mentioned that she didn't get to see much of the game. True enough!

Julia worked the cash register in the gift shop and earned a Jethawks cap and a baseball for her efforts. She also got to see the super-secret inventory room upstairs that, apparently, was quite a big deal in the eyes of the other participants.

Joey was security detail for Kaboom, the mascot. He escorted him everywhere he went, handled crowd control for autographs and hugs and had fun tossing out balls and prizes to kids around the park on Kaboom's behalf.

Sam got to be in the press box, announcing the upcoming batters. "Batting for the Jethawks, number 17, Josh Reddick." He got to do this for an entire inning and did a fantastic job, even with the hard names. He had the headphones on, worked the buttons himself, and looked completely professional in the booth. Unfortunately, the great picture I took of him at work did not get saved (I only had my cell phone and I'm not too adept at taking pictures with it) so I can't show you. Next year!

As it turns out, I, too, did not see much of the game as newly-potty-trained Tony dragged me to the bathroom six times in the first three innings. Just for fun. (His, not mine.)

Next up for the Jr. Jethawks...baseball camp. They get to spend a morning working on their baseball skills with the Jethawks players. Can't wait!